Progress Update

I am working on the second book of the Echoes from the Edge series. I passed the 40,000 word mark, so it is definitely in high gear now. I expect to finish it by the end of October.

I will begin working on Last of the Nephilim immediately afterwards. That one should go very quickly.

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Dallas and Longview, Texas, area Appearances

I will be in Texas later this week, specifically in Longview and Dallas. My schedule is below. If you live in the area and have time to come out and see me, I would love to meet you.

September 20 - 1:30 to 5:00 pm

Homeschool Group

Letourneau University

Education Building - Room 120

2100 South Mobberly

Longview, TX

September 21 - 1:30 to 2:30 pm

Speaking to combined literature classes

LeTourneau University

2100 South Mobberly

Longview, TX

September 22 - 12 noon to 2:00 pm

Mardel Christian Store

2300 Coit Road, Ste. 100

Plano, TX

September 22 - 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Mardel Christian Store

3714 Lavon Drive

Garland, TX

My daughter is home

After falling off her horse and breaking her femur, my daughter Amanda (known to some of you as Legossi) had surgery to insert a rod through her bone. Because of this, she will not have a cast, but the rod will stay in her thigh for the rest of her life.

She is now recovering at home. She is able to get around on crutches for short distances and is still in considerable pain. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Prayer for my daughter Amanda

My 16-year-old daughter, Amanda, fell off her horse yesterday and broke her femur. She had has two surgical procedures to repair it. She now has a hard road of therapy ahead.

I would appreciate it if you would pray for her recovery.

What about Billy and Bonnie?

I have been flooded with e-mails and message forum posts asking what happened to Billy and Bonnie, the two main characters from the Dragons in our Midst (DIOM) series. Apparently many readers expected to learn of their fate in Enoch's Ghost, the sequel to DIOM.

Enoch's Ghost is part of a new series, so it has new main characters. Billy and Bonnie are mentioned in the book, but other characters take center stage. Some readers weren't expecting that, so they were confused and/or disappointed.

Don't worry. I'm planning on bringing Billy and Bonnie back, but readers will have to be patient a little while longer. My next book, Last of the Nephilim, will continue to feature the new characters, but in the fourth book, The Bones of Makaidos, if all goes according to plan, Billy and Bonnie will return and play crucial roles in the story.

Please spread this news to other readers. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear it.

Back to Editing

I received the detailed edits from Zondervan for Beyond the Reflection's Edge. Whew! I have a lot of work to do! That means I might not be posting much for a while, unless some important news pops up.

Montrose Conference - final day

This has been one of the busiest conferences I have ever attended. I taught nine workshop sessions, did a keynote address, critiqued many manuscripts, and conducted a critique group that lasted over four hours.

Since I taught the Teen Track, I met a dozen or so wonderful teenagers who are dedicated to writing. Many of them were quite good at the craft, and they seemed to learn a lot. At the critique group, we had a great time going over their work. Although it lasted almost until midnight, laughter kept us awake. We had a blast.

I have enjoyed this conference greatly. It is well run, the organizers are friendly and helpful, and the conferees have been a delight. Not only that, the food was super. I have to exercise extra hard when I get home.

Montrose Writers Conference

I will be at the Montrose Writers Conference next week. I'm not sure if I will have the chance to enter any blog posts during that time. If anything earth-shaking comes up, I will try to let my faithful readers know.

I would appreciate prayer for travel safety. Thank you for your support!

Fantasy Fiction Tour Ends - Or Does It?

The 2007 Fantasy Fiction Tour has come to an end ... at least for now. But with so many seeds planted on the east side of the U.S., and with Wayne Batson appearing on national television, I expect that the groundswell for Christian fantasy will continue to grow.

I also expect that we will do another tour next year, if not in conjunction with ICRS in Orlando in 2008, then maybe during the school year so we can visit schools and homeschool groups along the way.

I'm posting the final three tour videos below. Enjoy!

Fantasy Fiction Tour Last Sunrise

It's the morning of the last day of the Fantasy Fiction Tour. It's raining steadily at my host family's home in New Jersey. At about 9:30, Wayne Batson and I will journey back into New York and join our fellow authors Sharon Hinck and Christopher Hopper for the final stop in this exciting tour. Sharon and Christopher stayed at a mission church in Brooklyn, and they will drive to our Manhattan stop.

Now that I have a chance, I will post some photos from earlier days. At the Christopher Matthews store in Bel Air, MD, I had the great pleasure of seeing a neighbor from the days I lived in Baltimore, Gloria Ernst. You can see her in the photo at the upper right. We had a great turnout at this store and sold a lot of books. One young man bought or brought all of my books to be signed, as you can see in the next photo.

Next, we traveled to Newark, DE, and signed books at a Family Christian Store. This was a last minute addition to our tour, so there was very little promotion. Still, a few enthusiastic fans showed up, including Justin, who often posts comments on our blogs.
I'm including a photo of Christopher hugging our good friend, Justin. We also had a visit from Michael, a great supporter of Christian fantasy. He came fully dressed in a terrific bard's costume and played his Celtic harp. It had a lovely sound, and he played with great skill. He is a professional storyteller who uses his stories to plants seeds for the gospel. If you're interested in contacting him, go to www.tellitlikeitis.com. You can see him in the next photo playing his harp.

From that store we traveled to the Days of Knights store in Newark, a fantasy and gaming store. We had a decent crowd of people and had a lot of fun talking at length to aspiring writers. I had a great talk with one of the workers there about Harry Potter and why the stories are harmful to young readers. Frankly, since this was a secular store, I was surprised at his ardent dislike for Harry, but I agreed with him on every point. I also met a young man named Benjamin who is a fan of my books. He had a lot of great questions, so it was fun interacting with him. The next photo shows me at the front of the store.

The next day, we went to Brooklyn and signed at the Timeless Treasures store. I don't have any good photos from that stop. After the signing, we went to a lively service at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, a huge church sanctuary that was attached to the store. Unfortunately, the loud bass guitar made Amanda's heart hurt, and it did the same to mine. We excused ourselves early and waited for the others, who were kind and gracious, as usual, and left soon after. Although the physical pain from the service is gone, my heart still aches spiritually. Those who know me well understand why. If you don't, please don't ask.

I am thankful for my hosts, Roheryn and family. I will also post a photo of her, showing that she is her usual crazy self. It's so great to be able to see her again and meet her family. Right now, she and my daughter, Legossi (Amanda), are out visiting Roh's horse, Carlo.

I probably won't post again until I get home. I hope to wrap up my blog posting for the tour at that time. Thank you to all who supported us with prayer, hospitality, and coming out to our stour stops.

Fantasy Fiction Tour New Video

Here's a video from Barnes & Noble in Ellicott City.

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Eight

I am posting from the home of the famous Roheryn, my friend and faithful poster on my message forum. I am thankful for all the host families who have shown such wonderful hospitality.

Today we drove from Newark, DE, to Brooklyn, NY, and had a signing at Timeless Treasures bookstore. We had good talks with customers, but, unfortunately, the store only have four of my books on hand, two copies of Tears of a Dragon, book 4 of Dragons in our Midst, and two copies of Eye of the Oracle, book #1 of Oracles of Fire. The two copies of Eye sold without a problem, but no one wanted to buy book #4 when they hadn't read books one through three.

Tomorrow morning we go to Manhattan for a signing at another Timeless Treasures bookstore. Then we get to go home! I'm looking forward to seeing my wife and two of my daughters again. It has been too long.

Again, I don't have photos ready. I hope to post a lot of photos when I get home as well as the remainder of the videos.

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Seven

I'm posting from a mission church in Brooklyn, NY. For now, I'll just post a new video from when we were in Alexandria, VA. More to come.

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Six

Three more signings today, plus a drive-by signing at a Borders store. We began in Bel-air, MD, at the Christopher Matthews store where quite a crowd of young people gathered. We stayed busy talking and signing the entire hour. From there we went to Newark, DE, and signed at a Family Christian store and The Days of Knights store. Both stores gave us opportunities to speak at length to quite a few fantasy fiction enthusiasts.

I don't have time to post photos tonight. I'll try to make up for that tomorrow. For now, here are the newest video releases. Enjoy!

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Five

Ready for another update? After signing at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., where we had a great time speaking to a youth group, we did another signing at a Barnes & Noble store in Alexandria, VA. We did several readings there to a relatively small, but interested audience.

The final stop of the day was at the Barnes & Noble in Ellicott City, MD. That event was amazing! We were again mobbed by people and sold dozens and dozens of books. The photo above shows just part of the crowd. At times they backed up all the way to the door, and we signed almost nonstop until the store closed.

As some of you know, I used to live in Maryland. My boss from when I worked at the railroad in Baltimore showed up. We didn't have much time to talk, but I was greatly blessed that he came out.

Below, you will see the video updates of the most recent tour days. These are really great. Enjoy!

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Four

What a great day! After driving from Raleigh, NC, we had a signing at a Barnes & Noble in Richmond, VA. Quite a few people drove hours to come out and see us, and we sold a good number of books. We were busy talking to customers the entire time. The manager was super excited and had us sign all of our leftover books. He said he would put up a display in the front. To the right is a photo of us at this Barnes & Noble.

After that, we drove to Ellicott City, MD, for our next signing at His Way Bookstore. The traffic was terrible! We lost well over an hour because of the bumper-to-bumper mess and arrived at the bookstore about forty minutes late. We were in touch with the store representative several times, and she kept telling us that people were waiting patiently for our arrival. So, when we arrived, we expected a line of people, but we weren't prepared for the mob that greeted us. Even though we had well over an hour left in our appearance time, it took the entire hour and twenty minutes to sign books for the people who had waited. It was amazing! Some bought all six of my books, including one boy who came all the way from Rochester, NY!

As you can see in the photo, some readers showed up in costume. We had such a great time signing and speaking to the fans, we didn't have an opportunity to do a reading. That's not a bad problem to have at all!

Michelle at His Way was fantastic! She prepared an unbelievable array of decorations for the signing, including hand-painted banners, book display units, a fabulous window display, among others. You can see some of the banners in the next photo.

On Sunday we will go to church in Washington, DC, and speak to a youth group, then do a signing at the church. After that we will go to Alexandria for a Barnes & Noble signing, followed by another Barnes & Nobel signing in Ellicott City, MD.

We have heard that a reporter from the Washington Post will come to the Alexandria signing. That will be terrific!

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Three Extra

Here are the videos from days one and two of the tour.

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Three

Today was a great day for meeting people. At our Charlotte stop at Barnes & Noble, at least a dozen people were waiting for us when we arrived. Some came to see Wayne, some to see me, and many to meet all of us. One brought a story for Wayne and included a wonderful testimony about how Wayne's books changed her life. A lovely young lady who is a regular on my forum brought me a beautiful painting of a dragon's eye. I will treasure it for years to come. Over to the right, you can see her with her painting.

In the next photo, you can see us posing with several of the fans and well-wishers who came to see us at the Charlotte store.

Next came Raleigh and a Borders store. Again we met some great fans as well as people who have never heard of our books. It's fun to get acquainted with people who seem already familiar with our hearts and minds because they have read our writing. At Raleigh I became reacquainted with a lady I met at the Florida Christian Writers Conference ten years ago. That was a fun experience.

I also had the opportunity to see one of the moderators on my message forum. You can see him, Knight of Heaven below with Legossi and me.



Tomorrow, on to Richmond and Ellicott City!

Fantasy Fiction Tour Day Two Extra

I forgot to post the Youtube video of our second day at ICRS. Enjoy!